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Getting a feel for the city: Australia 2016 (Nov. 5)

In order to really take advantage of our physical presence in Australia, we have filled our schedule to the brim with meetings, seminars, services and time to work on the Resolve course.

Our first Christmas tree of the season!
This was also an opportunity for us to embrace the spirit of Christmas that's been following us around as we prepare for the Table Talk for Christmas season. Have you seen your first tree of the season? We sure have, just in time for the Australian summer.

Steaphan Paton's 2013 piece, entitled "Cloaked combat" on display at the NGV
A large part of Melbourne's culture is an emphasis on the visually stunning, which includes both an incredibly prolific street art culture but also more traditional art. The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) lives downtown and, although redesigned and built in 2002, is the oldest and biggest art museum in Australia, tracing its history back to 1861. It's stuffed with Australian art, from the more austere portraiture of the 1800s to aboriginal works and contemporary sculpture and mixed media. This is a museum so full of art that there is a room just for busts: heads of every shape, size and stone. Talk about a special headspace!

It was just the right way to gear up for a busy week.